Traffic warrant; Need advice.

[futureExpat]

Awhile back a cop pulled me over & unknowing my license was suspended.

He did not tow my car (walked home) LTR friend got my car & did not check the misdeamenor BOX on the ticket, I missed my court date for this ticket.

A police officer this morning knocked on my door, did not answer, but saw him from my rooftop patio block away parked in the middle of the street (was he waiting for me to drive?).

I called the station and 1 of the first things she said was "are you home"? I said no, I found this odd & said why is that the first thing you ask me??

...is my home alright. She said she doesnt know & will call me back. 45 min Later no call, so i call the station & an officer says I have a traffic warrant for a "no show" at court. He say they can come by or I can go to the station.

He says he is doing a service to me by coming by since if someone pulled me over they could arrest me, I asked whats the difference if I am pulled over or walk in to the station? either way wont I get arrested?? He say not if I walk in & just get a new court date!??

I said police can lie & why should I believe this, he says the conversation is being recorded & he says he is telling the truth & i will not be arrested. He then says should I come by or are you coming in??? I said I will come in, just didnt specify when....

should I go in & trust him or wait till mon & call a traffic lawyer???

thank you for the help

[geeknow]

Honestly, I would PM Ron Solo or Retired about this. They are two of the "good ones", and will answer you honestly.

[futureExpat]

thanx n/m

thank you

[cruising7388]

Awhile back a cop pulled me over & unknowing my license was suspended.

A suspension requires a fairly lengthy administrative and/or legal noticed process in which you are invited or ultimately instructed to participate. How does your license get suspended without your knowledge?

[cruising7388]

Awhile back a cop pulled me over & unknowing my license was suspended.

He did not tow my car (walked home) LTR friend got my car & did not check the misdeamenor BOX on the ticket, I missed my court date for this ticket.

A police officer this morning knocked on my door, did not answer, but saw him from my rooftop patio block away parked in the middle of the street (was he waiting for me to drive?).

I called the station and 1 of the first things she said was "are you home"? I said no, I found this odd & said why is that the first thing you ask me??

...is my home alright. She said she doesnt know & will call me back. 45 min Later no call, so i call the station & an officer says I have a traffic warrant for a "no show" at court. He say they can come by or I can go to the station.

He says he is doing a service to me by coming by since if someone pulled me over they could arrest me, I asked whats the difference if I am pulled over or walk in to the station? either way wont I get arrested?? He say not if I walk in & just get a new court date!??

I said police can lie & why should I believe this, he says the conversation is being recorded & he says he is telling the truth & i will not be arrested. He then says should I come by or are you coming in??? I said I will come in, just didnt specify when....

should I go in & trust him or wait till mon & call a traffic lawyer???

thank you for the help

I've got no expertise on this but IMO, it would be a mistake to go into the PD. For starters, I don't think they they have any mechanism for resetting a court date. I would contact the Court directly ASAP and request a new court date in addition to a request that they rescind the current warrant. In the interim, because your license is currently suspended, I would avoid operating a vehicle, particularly one that has tags registered in your name.

I'm sure there are some traffic LEOs aboard that can shed light on this.

[TRICKSTER]

Without knowing what jurisdiction you are in, or if the original charge that led to the warrant was an infraction or misdemeanor, it is hard to provide an answer. Where I worked, most traffic warrants with the exception of DUI were served by setting a new court date.
If your license is suspended, do not drive, if caught you may end up losing your car for 30 days. You should do whatever you need to do to clear this up before it turns into a bigger can of worms.

[TRICKSTER]

I've got no expertise on this but IMO, it would be a mistake to go into the PD. For starters, I don't think they they have any mechanism for resetting a court date. I would contact the Court directly ASAP and request a new court date in addition to a request that they rescind the current warrant. In the interim, because your license is currently suspended, I would avoid operating a vehicle, particularly one that has tags registered in your name.

I'm sure there are some traffic LEOs aboard that can shed light on this.

I served warrants by setting a new court date all the time in the field, it is done via citation, just like the original ticket.
I don't understand why people that admit they don't know about the subject insisting on posting erroneous information.

By the way, your post about the suspension process is also incorrect.

[Armed24-7]

There are many factors to consider here. Driving on a suspended license is a Misdemeanor. Regardless of which box he checked on the cite, doesn't matter in this case. It would still be filed as a misdemeanor at the court in jurisdiction you were cited in.

If you did not show to court, they issued a warrant for your arrest for failing to appear. In CA, they do things a bit different than they use to. These days, our courts are issuing warrants for arrest only for failing to appear on a criminal matter, such as your misdemeanor charge or worse. Failing to appear for an infraction would most likely get your license suspended in which case, the court would notify you by mail, requesting you to respond regarding the suspension.

If the court was unsuccessful in notifying you, they usually edit your DMV status with "License suspended or revoked, service needed". When a LEO runs your driver's history the next time you get pulled over, the officer is required to give you official notification in writing of the suspension and he is also required to confiscate your driver's license if you have it in your possession. In this instance, they officer can still cite you for the violation.

Now on to the important question you asked about. Most law enforcement agencies (Police or Sheriff) get abstracts sent to them by the courts whenever a citizen residing in their jurisdiction has a warrant for their arrest put in the system. These agencies are supposed to attempt to go to your residence and take you into custody for the warrant. This process is called "Due Diligence". Sometimes, they may find out where you are working (by word of mouth) and attempt to take you into custody at your place of employment, though this is rare.

It sounds like the officer was doing some "Due Diligence" duties. As far as waiting for you to drive away, that is possible too. All they need to do is see you and they can take attempt an arrest.

Most LEO's won't waste much time sitting around your house waiting for you, unless you were wanted for something more serious.

Honestly, the longer you let this go, the worse it is going to be for you. Every time you see a LEO, you are going to get nervous and stressed out. The longer the warrant is in the system, the worse it will be in court.

I worked as a bailiff for a couple of years before going out to patrol. People with the exact same situation as you would come in all the time. The people would always ask the judge for "a chance" or "more time". Often, the judge would say something like, "You have had this warrant for a long time and you never came in to take care of it. You just didn't care." In those cases, the judge was much less likely to be lenient or to give chances.

Yes, you may get a slap on the wrist and end up with more fines, but the sooner you take care of all this and the more you show a strong desire to take care of it in front of the judge, the better for you.

When you go to court for the suspended license and failure to appear violation, you can expect that they may have you speak with a public defender before entering a plea so that you know all your options. In this case, you would have some bargaining power to get a plea deal with a lesser penalty.

Good luck to you!

[gschoelles]

Before the Budget Deficit, you could walk-into traffic court clerk, see a Judge and pretty much be done with it. Now days I don't know that you could see a judge the same day, and the clerk might want full bail amount before doing anything for you., Inasmuch, I have never heard of an officer coming to your door for a traffic warrant though that means little.

My thought is still see the clerk early in the am, and if it is only a warrant for a traffic infraction worst scenario however improbable is an overnight stay which comes off the top of your bail/ fine. Don't get pulled in or go in on a day before a weekend or holiday, because you may be bunking out until you see his honor.

[TRICKSTER]

There are many factors to consider here. Driving on a suspended license is a Misdemeanor. Regardless of which box he checked on the cite, doesn't matter in this case. It would still be filed as a misdemeanor at the court in jurisdiction you were cited in.

Not correct, several counties are allowing this to be cited and filed as an infraction as long as the suspension is not DUI related. One of the jurisdictions that I worked in has been doing this since the mid 1990's. This is why in order to give the correct reply, the reason for the suspension and jurisdiction is needed.

[Ron-Solo]

Trickster and Armed 24/7 have summed it up nicely already. PM sent to OP.

[Armed24-7]

Not correct, several counties are allowing this to be cited and filed as an infraction as long as the suspension is not DUI related. One of the jurisdictions that I worked in has been doing this since the mid 1990's. This is why in order to give the correct reply, the reason for the suspension and jurisdiction is needed.

14601.1(a) cvc are always initially filed as a misdemeanor if the person had prior knowledge that their license was suspended.

In any case, the prosecutor can request the charge be amended from a misdemeanor to an infraction, as part of a plea deal. This also depends heavily on why the license was suspended in the first place.

Anyways, I don't want to derail the OP's questions. He is in Nevada, not CA and the law might vary in NV. All of my information pertained to CA and from a law enforcement standpoint, we are VERY similar.

[TRICKSTER]

14601.1(a) cvc are always initially filed as a misdemeanor if the person had prior knowledge that their license was suspended.

That may be the way it is where you work, it is not that way where I worked. As long as the suspension was not DUI related, it was cited and filed as an infraction. This is why knowing the jurisdiction is important.

[Armed24-7]

That may be the way it is where you work, it is not that way where I worked. As long as the suspension was not DUI related, it was cited and filed as an infraction. This is why knowing the jurisdiction is important.

Where do you work? You must work in a state other than CA. The vehicle code does not change from county to county.

[TRICKSTER]

Where do you work? You must work in a state other than CA. The vehicle code does not change from county to county.

Contra Costa County has been doing this for years.